Proper and accurate color management has become an increasing issue. When computers, monitors and printers were first developed for home use, consumers were satisfied that green grass, blue skies, and red shirts looked close to what they expected. As time has passed, manufacturers of monitor equipment, printers, digital cameras, etc. have quickly adapted to the need to get clearer, more accurate color representations produced and/or captured. Companies have developed multimedia and graphics-related application programs as well. Different application programs for performing different types of color object data conversion can operate on one computer platform at the same time.
With the boom of Internet-related business increasing daily, companies are eager to ensure that products and information are being accurately represented. Clothing manufacturers distribute millions of catalogs a year. Year after year, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on clothes by consumers who never actually see the end product in person until it arrives at their door. However, the number one reason for product return has consistently been the fact that the color shown in the picture, whether in a magazine, on a billboard, on the Internet, or in a catalog did not match the color of the end product when it was received. A company that advertises in a magazine, has a billboard in a downtown city erected, and advertises on television wants to ensure that its company logo is consistent throughout each medium and that each medium portrays an accurate representation of the intended colors. Problems of inadequate continuity in the color management process can lead to millions of lost dollars for companies and consumers alike.
In the medical industry, surgeons and other doctors perform highly delicate and sensitive activities and rely on cameras and monitoring equipment. Today, surgeons perform certain types of procedures based upon the displayed color of objects on the monitor, such as blood, tissue, etc. However, because there is no calibration between the camera and monitor, important data is lost. All calibration of hardware is performed at the factory. For example, the camera may be able to capture the exact color of objects, such as blood, while phosphors in monitors cannot display the rich dark colors of blood. Surgeons have to perform color calculations in their head, similar to manual adjustments that press operators have to perform on the fly. Even so, if all color object data is converted to a standard color space as in some systems, monitors that can display the same gamut as the camera still cannot recapture lost data in the standard color space.
Current computer platforms, such as the Linux® X11 and Microsoft® Windows® XP, allow multiple applications to access hardware for color management purposes. For example, Microsoft® Windows® XP permits twelve (12) different applications to communicate with to hardware elements. An application communicates with a graphics library of the platform, the graphics library communicates with hardware coupled to the platform, and the hardware implements the desired application operation. For each of the different types of platforms, the three systems, application, graphics library, and hardware, have been improved in parallel. However, these parallel solutions have not been coordinated to ensure a specified and/or desired color management schema for any application. The various methods for communicating with hardware elements produce instability and eliminate the possibility for non-intervention of a particular application.
Prior color management systems support a single profile-based color management solution in sequence that forces conversions into that solution, e.g., ColorSync® by Apple®, and ICM® by Microsoft®. These solutions delay the performance intensive color conversion from source to destination device until the last possible opportunity in order to enable the most flexibility in their platform. This is commonly referred to as a late-binding workflow strategy. In the case of a printer that has built in hardware to accommodate in-device color management, a user would prefer to delay the conversion to let the printer perform all the grunt work. Disadvantages of a late-binding workflow strategy include the fact that a single incorrect application setting can corrupt one or more elements in the job and that evaluation of final output data does not occur until the last moment.
Other solutions support a single standard color space, into which all input content is converted at the first opportunity in order to maximize performance. This is commonly referred to as an early-binding workflow strategy. In the case of a standard inkjet printer, a user would prefer to have the application perform all or the majority of color management in order to minimize bandwidth use and processing time. Disadvantages of an early-binding workflow strategy include that fact that early binding means larger files that lead to slower performance, poorer quality effects, and that all color is squeezed into the output gamut and optimized for the output's total response.